Music Banter - View Single Post - Reviewing every single album on my shelf!

~~MicShazam~~ · 08-31-2016, 08:41 AM

If I'm going to make any progress at all, then I have to do something more efficient. From here on out, I'll post bite-sized summaries of my thoughts about every album and I'll try to post all albums I own with a single artist in just one post. For certain artists, I might have to cut it in two or more and of course I'm going to get new albums with bands I've already posted, so a band may appear twice or more.

Waltari
***Favourite artist***
For a bunch of tedious and not-very-amusing reasons I sort of fell out of buying music and listening to new things for a long, long time some years back. 2009 is a fondly remembered year for me, since that's when I started buying CD's again and where I set off on a quest to expand my musical tastes and listen to all sorts of new things. I've found no small amount of amazing things since then and Waltari was one of the first to blow my mind since I first got into music as a teenager in the late 90's.
They're a kind of strange alernative metal/rock/pop/electronica/progressive band that probably qualify as an acquired taste. The singer has a very nasal voice and a finnish accent despite singing in english. Some elements of their music can also be pretty corny, but I personally love how they aren't afraid to mix all sorts of uncool things together - white dude rap and 90's euro pop beats included.

On to the albums!

Early Years

This compilation contains their first albums Waltari and Monk Punk, a lot of tracks from an early EP and other oddities. Some of the songs are basically simple punk songs. Many tracks have a sort of a playful, comedic feel to them. I'm not too fond of the more silly tracks, but there's some seriously great tracks hidden on these two jam-packed discs. Curiosity might be one of my favourite Waltari songs.

Torcha!
***Favourite album***

A really great third album. Lots of memorable tracks and a particular atmosphere that I really love. I Held You So Long feels like a true classic that only ever dodged classic status due to the band being pretty obscure.

So Fine!

A sort of disappointing fourth album. Scored them a hit in Germany with the completely terrible title track. Their cover of The Cure's song A Forest is absolutely awesome, so that makes up for it. The rest of the album has its moments, but it isn't great.

Big Bang
***Favourite album***

I love this this album! Metal meets pop meets funk. The songs span quite a selection of styles, but there's still a cohesive feel to the album. On My Ice might just be my favourite track by this band. The Stage is the song that got me into the band. I think I just randomly bumped into it on Youtube.

Space Avenue

This album has a more polished, more metal, more industrial sound than previous albums. The funk rock is pretty much gone. It's got some interesting songs and a very specific feel to it across the entire disc. It might also interest some people to know that the band Apocalyptica add their cellos to the track Purify Yourself. For some reason I never really "felt" this album like I did most of the other albums. It's a good album with some quality performances, and it is no doubt quite original too, but for whatever reason it feels a bit cold and sterile to me.

Decade

A pretty awesome (but also rare) compilation of various tracks from the band's first decade. It's worth getting because several tracks on here are previously unreleased. The song Anybody is one such song, and one of my favourites by the band.

Radium Round

This time the band takes a turn for something slightly more poppy than previously. The mastering on this album is a bit smashed, but it's a fun disc for sure. Highlights include Every Bad Day, Power of Thoughts and Back to the Bottom.

08-31-2016, 08:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,636	If I'm going to make any progress at all, then I have to do something more efficient. From here on out, I'll post bite-sized summaries of my thoughts about every album and I'll try to post all albums I own with a single artist in just one post. For certain artists, I might have to cut it in two or more and of course I'm going to get new albums with bands I've already posted, so a band may appear twice or more. Waltari *Favourite artist* For a bunch of tedious and not-very-amusing reasons I sort of fell out of buying music and listening to new things for a long, long time some years back. 2009 is a fondly remembered year for me, since that's when I started buying CD's again and where I set off on a quest to expand my musical tastes and listen to all sorts of new things. I've found no small amount of amazing things since then and Waltari was one of the first to blow my mind since I first got into music as a teenager in the late 90's. They're a kind of strange alernative metal/rock/pop/electronica/progressive band that probably qualify as an acquired taste. The singer has a very nasal voice and a finnish accent despite singing in english. Some elements of their music can also be pretty corny, but I personally love how they aren't afraid to mix all sorts of uncool things together - white dude rap and 90's euro pop beats included. On to the albums! Early Years This compilation contains their first albums Waltari and Monk Punk, a lot of tracks from an early EP and other oddities. Some of the songs are basically simple punk songs. Many tracks have a sort of a playful, comedic feel to them. I'm not too fond of the more silly tracks, but there's some seriously great tracks hidden on these two jam-packed discs. Curiosity might be one of my favourite Waltari songs. Torcha! *Favourite album* A really great third album. Lots of memorable tracks and a particular atmosphere that I really love. I Held You So Long feels like a true classic that only ever dodged classic status due to the band being pretty obscure. So Fine! A sort of disappointing fourth album. Scored them a hit in Germany with the completely terrible title track. Their cover of The Cure's song A Forest is absolutely awesome, so that makes up for it. The rest of the album has its moments, but it isn't great. Big Bang *Favourite album* I love this this album! Metal meets pop meets funk. The songs span quite a selection of styles, but there's still a cohesive feel to the album. On My Ice might just be my favourite track by this band. The Stage is the song that got me into the band. I think I just randomly bumped into it on Youtube. Space Avenue This album has a more polished, more metal, more industrial sound than previous albums. The funk rock is pretty much gone. It's got some interesting songs and a very specific feel to it across the entire disc. It might also interest some people to know that the band Apocalyptica add their cellos to the track Purify Yourself. For some reason I never really "felt" this album like I did most of the other albums. It's a good album with some quality performances, and it is no doubt quite original too, but for whatever reason it feels a bit cold and sterile to me. Decade A pretty awesome (but also rare) compilation of various tracks from the band's first decade. It's worth getting because several tracks on here are previously unreleased. The song Anybody is one such song, and one of my favourites by the band. Radium Round This time the band takes a turn for something slightly more poppy than previously. The mastering on this album is a bit smashed, but it's a fun disc for sure. Highlights include Every Bad Day, Power of Thoughts and Back to the Bottom. Last edited by MicShazam; 08-31-2016 at 08:53 AM.